Definition

Noun The latest appropriate or possible moment for something to happen or be done; a point when action is urgently needed or long overdue.

Usage

This noun phrase is used to express that something should have happened already and that further delay is unacceptable. It is almost always used in the construction "it is high time (that) + subject + past simple verb" or "it is high time (that) + subject + past continuous verb". The verb form is in the past tense, but it refers to a present or future necessity.

Examples

• It is high time you started taking your studies seriously.
• It's high time we left for the airport, or we'll miss our flight.
• Isn't it high time she was told the truth about the situation?
• After years of neglect, it is high time this old building was being renovated.

Advanced Usage

• The phrase can sometimes be used without "it is," especially in more direct or exclamatory statements.
  • High time you showed up! We've been waiting for an hour.
• The conjunction "that" is almost always omitted in modern usage.

Variants and Related Words

• Past due (adj.): Something that should have been completed or paid earlier.
• Overdue (adj.): Something that is late or beyond its scheduled time.

Synonyms

• The eleventh hour
• The nick of time (though this often refers to the last moment a negative event, not a moment that has already passed)

Related Idioms

• About time: A less emphatic synonym, also followed by a past tense verb. ("It's about time you called!")
• In the nick of time: At the last possible moment before it is too late. (He arrived in the nick of time to catch the train.)

Noun

1. the latest possible moment
   • it is high time you went to work